بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Second Pledge of Aqaba, the Pledge of War
https://www.al-waie.org/archives/article/7308
Al-Waie Magazine - Issue 138
Jumada al-Akhir 1419 AH / October 1998 CE
(Translated)
Imam Ahmad said: Abd al-Razzaq told us, Muammar told us, on the authority of Ibn Khathim, on the authority of Abu al-Zubayr, on the authority of Jabir, who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw), stayed in Makkah for ten years, following people to their homes, in Ukaz and Majanna, and during the Hajj seasons, saying, «مَنْ يُؤْوِينِي مَنْ يَنْصُرُنِي حَتَّى أُبَلِّغَ رِسَالَةَ رَبِّي وَلَهُ الْجَنَّةُ»“Who will grant sanctuary to me? Who will grant support to me? So that I may convey the Risaalah (message) of my Lord and Paradise will be his.”
However, he (saw) found no one to grant sanctuary or support to him.
Even a man would go out from Yemen or Mudar and his people and relatives would come to him and say, “Beware of the young man of Quraysh, lest he corrupts you.” He (saw) would pass among their people, while they pointed fingers at him, until Allah (swt) sent us to him from Yathrib, so we granted sanctuary to him and believed in him. Then a man from us would go out and believe in him and he (saw) read to him the Qur’an, and the man from us would then return to his family and they would accept Islam, until there was not a house of the Ansar (saw) except that there was a group of Muslims within it who embraced Islam. Then they all conspired and we said, “Until when will we leave the Messenger of Allah (saw) wandering and being driven out around the mountains of Makkah in fear?”
Seventy of us set out to meet him during the Hajj season. We made an appointment with him at the ravine of Aqabah. We gathered there, one or two men at a time, until we all met. We said, يا رسول الله علام نبايعك؟ “O Messenger of Allah, upon what should we make Bayah to you?” He (saw) said, «تُبَايِعُونِي عَلَى السَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ فِي النَّشَاطِ وَالْكَسَلِ وَالنَّفَقَةِ فِي الْعُسْرِ وَالْيُسْرِ وَعَلَى الْأَمْرِ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيِ عَنْ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأَنْ تَقُولُوا فِي اللَّهِ لَا تَخَافُونَ فِي اللَّهِ لَوْمَةَ لَائِمٍ وَعَلَى أَنْ تَنْصُرُونِي فَتَمْنَعُونِي إِذَا قَدِمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِمَّا تَمْنَعُونَ مِنْهُ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجَكُمْ وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ وَلَكُمْ الْجَنَّةُ»“You pledge Bayah to me upon listening and obeying me in times of activity and idleness, and to spend in times of difficulty and ease, to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, to speak for the sake of Allah (swt) without fearing the blame of any critic, and to grant me support and protection when I come to you, from what you protect yourselves, your wives and your children. Then, Paradise is yours.”
So we went to him (saw) and Asad ibn Zurarah (ra) took his hand and said,رُوَيْدًا يَا أَهْلَ يَثْرِبَ فَإِنَّا لَمْ نَضْرِبْ أَكْبَادَ الْإِبِلِ إِلَّا وَنَحْنُ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِنَّ إِخْرَاجَهُ الْيَوْمَ مُفَارَقَةُ الْعَرَبِ كَافَّةً وَقَتْلُ خِيَارِكُمْ وَأَنَّ تَعَضَّكُمْ السُّيُوفُ فَإِمَّا أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَصْبِرُونَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ وَأَجْرُكُمْ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَإِمَّا أَنْتُمْ قَوْمٌ تَخَافُونَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ جَبِينَةً فَبَيِّنُوا ذَلِكَ فَهُوَ عُذْرٌ لَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ قَالُوا أَمِطْ عَنَّا يَا أَسْعَدُ فَوَاللَّهِ لَا نَدَعُ هَذِهِ الْبَيْعَةَ أَبَدًا وَلَا نَسْلُبُهَا أَبَدًا قَالَ فَقُمْنَا إِلَيْهِ فَبَايَعْنَاهُ فَأَخَذَ عَلَيْنَا وَشَرَطَ وَيُعْطِينَا عَلَى ذَلِكَ الْجَنَّةَ “Consider a moment, O people of Yathrib, for we did not set out to meet him except because we knew that he was the Messenger of Allah (saw), and we knew that his expulsion today would be an act of hostility against all the Arabs. The best of you would be killed and swords would strike at you. Either you are a people who can bear it patiently, so take it, and your reward is with Allah, or you are a people who fear for yourselves, so leave him. Make it all clear now, for it will be more excusable for you before Allah (saw).”
They said, “Slow down, As’ad. By Allah, we will never abandon this Bayah of allegiance or withdraw from it.”
So we went to him (saw) and pledged Bayah to him (saw). He (saw) took some conditions from us and stipulated that we would have Paradise in return.
Ibn Ishaq said, on the authority of Ma’bad, on the authority of Abdullah, on the authority of his father Ka’b bin Malik, who said, “We slept that night with our people in our tents, until a third of the night had passed. We then left our tents to meet the Messenger of Allah (saw). We crept like sandgrouse, stealthily, until we gathered in the valley near the pass. We were seventy-three men, and with us were two of our women.” The women were Nusaybah bint Ka’b, Umm ‘Amara al-Maziniyyah, and Asma bint ‘Amr bin ‘Adi from Banu Salamah, who was Umm Mani’.
Ka’b ibn Malik said, When we gathered in the ravine, we were waiting for the Messenger of Allah (saw) until he came to us with Al-Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, who was still following the Deen of his people at that time, except that he wanted to be present about his nephew and provide him with security. When he sat down, the first to speak was Al-Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib, who said, يا معشر الخزرج، إن محمداً منا حيث قد علمتم، وقد منعناه من قومنا ممن هو على مثل رأينا فيه، فهو في عزة من قومه، ومنعة في بلده، وإنه أبى إلا الانحياز إليكم واللحوق بكم، فإن كنتم ترون أنكم وافون له بما دعوتموه إليه، ومانعوه ممن خالفه، فأنتم وما تحملتم من ذلك وإن كنتم ترون أنكم مسلموه وخاذلوه بعد الخروج إليكم فمن الآن فدعوه. فإنه في عزة ومنعة من قومه وبلده “O people of Khazraj, Muhammad (saw) is one of us as you know, and we have protected him as amongst our people, amongst those who share the same opinion as we do about him. He (saw) is honored by his people and protected in his land. He has rejected that only to side with you and join you. If you think that you will fulfill what you have called him to, and protect him from those who oppose him, then you are responsible for what you have borne of that. However, if you think that you will surrender him and abandon him, after he has come out to you, then from now leave him alone, for he is honored and safe from his people and land.”
So we said to him, “We have heard what you said, so speak, O Messenger of Allah (saw) and take for yourself and your Lord whatever you like.”
So the Messenger of Allah (saw) spoke, recited the Qur'an, called to Allah, and encouraged people to Islam. He then said, «أُبَايِعُكُمْ عَلَى أَنْ تَمْنَعُونِي مِمَّا تَمْنَعُونَ مِنْهُ نِسَاءَكُمْ وَأَبْنَاءَكُمْ»“I pledge Bayah upon you that you will protect me from what you protect your women and children.”
So Al-Bara’ ibn Ma’rur took his hand and said, نعم، فوالذي بعثك بالحق لنمنعنك مما نمنع منه أزرنا، فبايعنا يا رسول الله، فنحن والله أبناء الحروب ورثناها كابراً عن كابر“Yes, by He (swt) who sent you with the Truth, we will protect you from what we protect our offspring from. So pledge Bayah upon us, O Messenger of Allah, for by Allah, we are the offspring of warfare, and we have inherited that from our forefathers.”
Abu Al-Haitham ibn Al-Tayhan objected and said, يا رسول الله، إن بيننا وبين الرجال حبالاً وإنا قاطعوها، يعني اليهود، فهل عسيت إن فعلنا ذلك ثم أظهرك الله أن ترجع إلى قومك وتدعنا؟“O Messenger of Allah, there are ties between us and men, and we will sever them (he meant the Jews), so if we do that and Allah (swt) grants you victory, do you think you will return to your people and leave us?”
The Messenger of Allah (saw) smiled and then said, «بَلْ الدَّمَ الدَّمَ وَالْهَدْمَ الْهَدْمَ أَنَا مِنْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ مِنِّي أُحَارِبُ مَنْ حَارَبْتُمْ وَأُسَالِمُ مَنْ سَالَمْتُمْ»“Instead, blood is blood. Destruction is destruction. I am of you and you are of me. I fight whoever you fought. I make peace with whoever you made peace with.”
Ka'b said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, «أَخْرِجُوا إِلَيَّ مِنْكُمْ اثْنَيْ عَشَرَ نَقِيبًا يَكُونُونَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِمْ» “Bring me out from among you twelve commanders who will be responsible for their people and what is within them.”
So they brought out twelve commanders from among them: nine from the Khazraj and three from the Aws. Ibn Ishaq said: Abdullah bin Abi Bakr told me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to the commanders: «أَنْتُمْ عَلَى قَوْمِكُمْ بِمَا فِيهِمْ كُفَلَاءُ كَكَفَالَةِ الْحَوَارِيّينَ لِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَأَنَا كَفِيلٌ عَلَى قَوْمِي»“You are responsible for your people and what is within them, just as the Disciples were responsible for Isa, son of Mariam. I am responsible for my people.”
Ibn Ishaq said: Asim bin Umar bin Qatada told me that when the people gathered to pledge Bayah to the Messenger of Allah (saw), Al-Abbas bin Ubadah bin Nadlah Al-Ansari, the brother of Banu Salim bin Auf, said, يا معشر الخزرج هل تدرون علامَ تبايعون هذا الرجل“O people of Khazraj, do you know what you are pledging Bayah to this man for?” They said: نعم Yes.
He said,إنكم تبايعونه على حرب الأحمر والأسود من الناس، فإن كنتم ترون أنكم إذا أنهكت أموالكم مصيبة وأشرافكم قتلاً أسلمتموه، فمن الآن فهو والله إن فعلتم خزي الدنيا والآخرة، وإن كنتم ترون أنكم وافون له بما دعوتموه إليه على نهكة الأموال وقتل الأشراف فخذوه، فهو والله خير الدنيا والآخرة “You are pledging Bayah to him to wage war against the ruddy and the black of people. If you think that if a calamity depletes your wealth and kills your nobles, you will surrender him, then from now on, by Allah, if you do so, it will be a disgrace in this world and the next. However, if you think that you will fulfill what you called him towards, despite the depletion of wealth and the killing of nobles, then take him, for by Allah, it is the best in this world and the next.”
They said, فإنا نأخذه على مصيبة الأموال وقتل الأشراف، فما لنا بذلك يا رسول الله إن نحن وفّينا؟ “We will take it even if we lose our wealth and kill our nobles. What will we get from that, O Messenger of Allah (saw), if we fulfill our promise?” He (saw) said, «الجنة» “Paradise.” He (saw) extended his hand and they pledged Bayah to him.
Al-Bayhaqi narrated that Ubadah ibn al-Samit said, «إنا بايعنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على السمع والطاعة في النشاط والكسل، والنفقة في العسر واليسر، وعلى الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر، وعلى أن نقول في الله لا تأخذنا فيه لومة لائم، وعلى أن ننصر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا قدم علينا يثرب مما نمنع به أنفسنا وأزواجنا وأبناءنا ولنا الجنة»“We have pledged Bayah to the Messenger of Allah (saw), to hear and obey in times of activity and inactivity, to spend in times of hardship and ease, to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, to speak about Allah without fear of blame from anyone, and to support the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he comes to us in Yathrib, in a way that will protect us, our wives and our children, and Paradise will be ours.”
When the Bayah and assurance were completed, the Messenger of Allah (saw), said to them, ارْفَضُّوا إِلَى رِحَالِكُمْ “Return to your homes.”
Al-Abbas ibn Ubadah ibn Nadlah al-Ansari said, يا رسول الله والذي بعثك بالحق إن شئت لنميلن على أهل منىً غداً بأسيافنا “O Messenger of Allah, by the One Who sent you with the truth, if you wish, we will attack the people of Mina tomorrow with our swords.”
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, «لَمْ نُؤْمَرْ بِذَلِكَ وَلَكِنْ ارْجِعُوا إلَى رِحَالِكُمْ»“We have not been given command yet, but return to your homes.”
Thus, the solid nucleus for establishing the first Islamic State was found in Madinah, and the Messenger of Allah (saw) permitted the Muslims to migrate to Madinah.